Circular-knitting-machine mechanism for controlling yarn in plating.



' H. A. HOUSENIAN.

CIRCULAR KNHTING MACHINE MECHANISM FOR CONYAOLLING YARN 1N PLAUNG.

APPHCATI'ON lFlLED APR. I3 13A@ Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

, H. A. HOUSEMAN. CIRCULAR KNHTING MACHINE MECHANISM FoR coNTRoLLlNG YARN |N PLATING.

-APPLlcAToN FILED 11.13.1916.

Patented Nov. 11, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. A. HOUSEMAN. CIRCULAR KNHNNG MAcmNE MECHANlsn/l F'oR CONTROLLING YARN |N PLATING.

APPLICATION FILE APR. 13, |916.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

/IV VE N 70H rra/PNEK HARRY A. HOUSEIVIAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORTO STANDARD PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATON OF CIRCULAR-KNITTING-MACI-IINE MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING YARN IN PLATING.

To ad whom t may concern Be it known that I, HARRY A. HOUSE- MAN, a citizenof'the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Circular- 'Knitting-Machine IMechanism for Controlling Yarn in Plating, of which-.the foling is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specifiy cation; l

'In the manufacture of hosiery-the knit-v ting of plated stockings is well known. It

is also well known -that the plating electcan be produced by causing two threads to be fed to the needles side by side. This is' usuallyv accomplished by providing a yarn .arriervwith two holes, one back of the other, through which the two threads are delivered to theneedles. It is unnecessary to explain precisely the reasons why the introduction ot the threads to the needles in this manner produces the plated effect, the fact being well known .in the art and a comprehension ot the theory of the operation being unnecessary to an understanding of my invention.

Dilliculties are encountered in practicall operatinlirr machines to successfuly produce the plated work. At the end of the transfer operation, and at the start of the tubular tabrie in the making of the next stocking, the Ivarn must be properly guided to the needles. To this end the yarn shouldbe introduced to the needles at such an angle to the periphery ot' the needle bank as to be more or less nearly tangential thereto. lf, however. the two .threads which are 'to be delivered to the needles` side by side be initially fed to the needles in that relation, there is danger that the outside thread will not properly engage the needles. If, on thel Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. ist, 19ML Application led April 13,1916. SerialiNo. 90,809.

sure engagement with the needles and sufficiently far out to insure its proper coperation lwith the yarn to produce the plated effect. The result is unsatisfactory and uncertain. Eiforts have been made to overcome the difliculty in other ways. Thus it 'has been proposed, at the beginning oit the needle-threading operation, to press out the needles toward the yarn carrier, but it is obvious that this imposes a strain on the needles that tends to permanently distort them and at the least to shorten theirlife.

In my invention, the desired result is effected by means, independent of the needles, whereby the outside yarn, in the needlethreading operation, is delivered to the needles sufficiently iar in to absolutely insure its proper engagement therewith and preferably at the same angle'at which the other jarn is so guided to the needles, while, immediatelyv thereafter, the direction of delivery of the yarn to the needles'is changed so that it passes to the needles, throughout the remainder of the knittingoperation, as far outside the other yarn as is desirable to enable the lating operation to be suecessfuly carried out with absolute certainty. 1f:accomplished by providing a vainguidc or defieetor which may be moved toward and More specifically, the result is from the needles and which` while preferably having no efi'ect upon the insideyarn will shift the angle of the outside yarn relatively to the, periphery oi the back of needles so aspto cause the yarn to be initially delivered to the needles at the angle best adapted to insure proper engagement therewith and to thereafter be delivered to the needles as far outside the other yarn asniay be desired. l prefer to utilize, as such yarn guide or defiector, the needle-latch guard, but to reconstruct the same in such manner that it will be movable and will operate to so guide or deflect the yarn. I have also arranged this device, whether it be the latch guard or a special device performing solely the yarn guiding function, so that it will be operated automatically at the proper time and to this end have associated and connected it with the ordinary stitch cam so that it will be operated thereby or in unison therewith.

A. fuller understanding of the invention lOO will 'he haal by reference to the accompany i ing drawings, in. connection with. the ole'- scrptiou thereof, end irl whichW I Figure l shows the knitting head of s. circuler j machine, principally" in cross section, rr h my invention applied thc-reto. Wig. Z is o partiel plan, view fue section oh line 2;@ of Fig. l.. Fig. 3 is e sectional Y ew on line voff 2. lg. u. partiel plan view of thetop' me and connected there .71th. 5 is a. viessiiriilsr to Fig. Il, ou o.' larger scolo Wi' ports lh e clilerent relative posi tion. o front 'View of ,the portion 15 of the top 'reme shown iu Fig. 5.

llze mechanism consttutng'lshe knitting" heed consists, briefly, of the needle cylinder a., rotatably mouhteo. m e. hase o .secureito the frame e of the mechihc. Upon. base b is with, which s gir/eh fe. predetermined step by step motion by s pattern chain not shown. -v l 25 Thot-op rreme e, plvotally supported et y, carries 'threacl carriers g, which, as shown., are in the active position, and may he reise out of action, there usually being but cioe thread ce.A active et s time. The threefl 3f@ riers are cctuote by mechanism not snows, it beers no relation to the preset invehtinim. lhe ore held either activo clot-ive hir solang pressed oeuiht erros F,

l. y Knittihg I in the rotation of i elle cvliucler, to reise and lower them iu Well known operation 'of knitting tuhular fabric. v

ln the manufacture of half-hose, to which 4@ my invention is particularly applicable', et

the beginning or the operation the needles must be leveled, i. e., the entire circuler set'I of needles 'must ce hr ught to the same horizoutsl level. is for the purpose of srl m'lttng of the transfer vthereto of 'an el- 1ea-cly-formerl tuhulr elastic portion known as the rile liu orfler to thus level all 'elle neeelles i .uswmss'sr7J to remlerthe lie fore meute .ed mittx u esteis iriopeotive. Ihese' are carried by ra y' New able slides 7.a', which normally hold the in o oerative position by mes-.ris of spr? fl, couble hellcrenk lever m, tumchie ce l slnefl c in heal o, serves 'to withu also mouhted e. rotatable com isk 63,5 loeloW` the needle cylinder and concentric there v v v Whie..- tln'eas x, g; :e guided. and

drwsliqles i@ cool come r1 out of action, es

recesses to 1rmlerrifle rofl o, thereby raising it curl tlltlng the .hell'crsilz lever, which m turn withdraws the knitting cams as desired.

lu, knitting pletel stockings, that is., stockings in which tivo threads are knitted. '1'0- simnltaneously, it is necessary, es hereinbefore stated, to feed the threads to the neen dles in such a Way that lthev lie side by side.' lt is necessary to accomplish this positively .in order that one of the threads shell appear continuously upon the outside of the stocking yeuicl the other upon the inside. rEhe threads m, y are brought from the cops (not shown) through eyes Q', curl are threaded through ltfvvo holes in one of the yarn fingers or carriers, in au olcl and Well known man her. Froml the yarn carriers .the thrcsils pass over the edge of e. recessin the ringn shaped element called the latch guard, cl- 'rectly to the needles. ln order to aocom- 85 plish the result desired l have taken e seetion of the hitch guard and mede it as s seperate and movable piece r, pivote@ at s to frame e, and therefore movable back outl of the 'circuler inner line of said frame, es 9o shown in Fig. 5, and performing vthe :fullo tion of a yarn guido or delecton lieve also so constructed and arranged this yeru guide that it carries et its outer end e. reisecl/ portion. forming s. shoulder or corner UY il in 'taer passage from thc yarn carriers to the needles. As shown in Fig. 4c, when the vom guide 'r is '1n its forward position, c'. e. right against the needles, both threads unal 3f pass together around. shoulder t, and it is necessary to start 'the operation with the guide fr lin this position in order toproperlY threed the needles. After six or eight neeilles have thus caught the thread, the yarn los guide a" may be movecl back into the posities` shown in Fig. 5. For .purposes o1e clearness sii-able in practice, e. receding movem... about one sixteenth of on inch at the pom-f; of the corner 2f peing.11sually sufficient. to

one of the 13hA zoos g from seid co hetnet the other theed, thus separe; 'the threads at this point snol. insuring deliverance toj theneedles side by sido us lesirerl.

'The retraction of the verh guide (loes riot sicct its efficiency os `a. latclrgualrd, for though it does 'not hold 'the latches of the needles Wide operi, it still prevents :my possibllity of their closing. The ,yarn guidehss 4en operating erre. by which it .is opened nucl closed in the following manner;

.A vertical. rodv o is slidebly mounted '-115 crochets w attached to s fixed port 'the schine. Elco o corr-ies comic-el com. heed Position to uct upon an sr'iu u or" the verh de so that hy rsisv rofl o, sors u muy he moved close the solo. guido., eetl by low- 330 the needles, as shown in Fig. a.

ering rod i), arm u, by means of spring 7,

as a stop to prevent the guide being thrown in against the needles, and an. adjusting screw il serves to limit its outward motion, theA extent of which may be adjusted as desired. Rod 'u rests upon one end of a lever 10, pivot'ed at ll to a fixed part,and carrying` a cam 12, which may be made to underride and raise rod /a when desired. The other end ot'lever .10 has a holeI through which projects a pin 13 carried by one of the Islides v7u. By this arrangement Vwhen slides Z? are inoi'ed outward to withdraw the knitting cams and allow the leveling` of the needles at the beginning ot' va stocking, lever l() is thereby turned and cam l2 raises rod o, which in turn causes arm u to move in the yarn guide i", so that the threads are subsequently insured a correct 4delivery' to After the needles are leveled and the machine stopped, and the machine is again started, the last described position ot' the yarn guide is vmaintained only momentarily. while cam p upon the cam disk vis moving beneath rod 0. As soon as this passes. springs Zloring the knitting cams into action again, vAt the same time lever l0 is moved to tree rod /0 from cam 1'2 and spring 'i' is allowed to pull arm a over to the adjusting screw 9. This retracts the yarn guide and the knitting ot the stocking proceeds with the two 'threads al, y/ delivered to the needles side by side. as indicated in Fig. 5, forming the plated etliect required.

It will be understood that the plating work maybe applied to a stocking throughout any part oic its length and that, for this reason, the additional yarn required to produce the desired etiect may be introduced to the needles, at airy point. from a separate yarn tinger. M v invention permitsl ol the certain introduction oi the thread to the needles at any point, although it -will be understood that it may be oi'tcn iinpracticable to automatically 'operate it iii'oiii the stitch cams, and my invention is therefore not limited to suchr mode ol' operation. lt will also be understood that the invention applicable to any situation where it is desirable or necessary to at intervals introduce a thread to the needlesl ut to normally cause it to be icd thereto at a substantially greater angle to the tangent of the circle of needles than is desirable to elfect with certaint)y the initial engagement of the. thi' `ad with the needles.

llaving now t'ully described my invention. what l' claim and desire to protect by vLetters latent is:

l. ln a circular knitting machine, the combination with the needles, of a `Yarn carrier, a pivotally mounted defiector extending in the direction of the circumference of the needle bank along and outside and in close proximity to the needles, and adapted to engage the yarn in its passage to the needles; said deieetorbeing movable on its pivot to cause its free endto4 moveinward toward the needles and thereby move the yarn into sii-ch an angle to said circumference as to` insure. .its'proper engagement with a series of needles, and means independent f of the yarn. carrier to swing the4 free endof the deflector outward away from the needles.

ln a circular knitting machine, the combination with the needles, ofa yarn carrier, a pi'votally mounted deflector extending in the direction of the circumference-0f the'needle bank and along and outside and in close proximity to the needles, said .detlector having a shouldered portion adapted, when the yarn carrier is in operative position, to engage a yarn in its passage to the needles, said detlector being movable on its pivot to cause .its shouldered portion to defiectth'e yarn into such .an angle to vsaid circumference as to-insure its proper engage- -nieans to swing the detlector'on its pivot to cause its upturned end to more toward the needles and thereby deflect the yarn into position Ato insure its engagement with a series oi needles.

4. ln, a. circular knitting machine, the combination with the nccdles,votl a' yarn cai"- ricr niovable into andout ot' operative:position, and a deflector interposed between the yarn carrier and 'the needles and so positioned as to continuously engage' and deflect a yarn ted by the carrier while'the latter is in operative position. and means to move the defiectorlindependently ot' the yarn carrier to vary the anglev rat which theyarn is ted to the hooks ot a lseries of needles.

ln a circiilarikuitting machine, the

combination with the needles, ot' a yarn carrier movable into and out of operative position, a hitch guarding member adapted toA engage the yarn between the carrier and the needles, and means to move said member to deflect the yarn in its passage t'rom the carrier to the needles and thereby insure its broper engagement therewith.

(l. ln a circular knitting machine, the combination with the needles, of a yarn combination with the needles, of a yarn cerinsure its initial engagement therewith, said tier adapted to be moved into feeding posi .iatch guard being retractable to permit the 1G tion and cause a. plur'ality of @breads to be thresis to assume said side by side relation fed to the needes side by side, a lateh dining the subsequent knit-ting operation.-

5 guagding member, and means to move said in `testimony of which invention, l have meriibei' to de'lieet the thread adaptedv to hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on assume the outside positin on its passage this 7th day of April, 1916. from the carrier to the needles and thereby HARRY A. HOUSEMAN 

